MUSIC
Pop & Rock
BOYZ II MEN The Philadelphia vocal group celebrates the 25th anniversary of their landmark harmony showcase “II,” which includes the decade-defining slow jams “On Bended Knee” and “I’ll Make Love to You.” (The date being Valentine’s Day is just a stroke of excellent timing.) Feb. 14, 7:30 p.m. $43.50 and up. Orpheum Theatre. 617-482-0106, www.crossroadspresents.com
SARAH SHOOK & THE DISARMERS “Years,” the second album from this North Carolina wailer and her first-class band, is full of boot-scuffing country tunes that crackle with honesty, bravado, and wit. Feb. 15, 10 p.m. $15 advance. Great Scott. 617-566-0914, www.greatscottboston.com
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CHERRY GLAZERR This Los Angeles power trio glams up and grows up on its third album, “Stuffed and Ready,” on which Clemetine Creevy’s ghostly vocals float over slightly mussed alt-pop. Feb. 15, 7:30 p.m. $15. Brighton Music Hall. 617-779-0140, www.crossroadspresents.com
MAURA JOHNSTON
Folk & World
NOAM PIKELNY AND STUART DUNCAN These two bluegrass-and-beyond virtuosos first brought their respective instruments (banjo and fiddle) together in 2014, but haven’t done so since because of their myriad other musical endeavors and obligations. So when the opportunity to see them collaborate presents itself, it’s one worth taking. Feb. 14, 8 p.m. $22-$35. City Winery. 617-933-8047, www.citywinery.com/boston
I’M WITH HER Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz, and Aoife O’Donovan, who combine their songwriting and vocal talents to form what qualifies as an Americana supergroup in I’m With Her, return to town still riding the wave of their 2018 debut full-length, “See You Around.” Bluegrass wunderkind Billy Strings opens. Feb. 15, 8 p.m. $29.50-$45. House of Blues. 800-745-3000, www.livenation.com
JAMES KEELAGHAN The veteran folk artist has been called Canada’s finest songwriter, which puts him in competition with the heady likes of Gordon Lightfoot and Joni Mitchell. He certainly shares Lightfoot’s penchant for Canadiana in drawing upon the country’s social and political history for the subject matter of many songs. Feb. 15, 8 p.m. $20. Me and Thee Coffeehouse, Marblehead. 800-838-3006, www.brownpapertickets.com
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STUART MUNRO
Jazz & Blues
GODWIN LOUIS SEXTET The emerging altoist, a native of Haiti and alumnus of Berklee and the Thelonious Monk Institute, celebrates his musically polyglot debut album, “Global,” with his band of up-and-comers. Feb. 13, 8 p.m. $5-$10. The Red Room at Café 939, 939 Boylston St., Boston, www.berklee.edu/cafe939
THE FRINGE Founded in 1972, Boston’s legendary free jazz band features world-class tenor saxophonist George Garzone, seasoned drummer Bob Gullotti, and “newcomer” bassist John Lockwood, who’s been a member only since 1985. Feb. 15, 8 p.m. $20. Third Life Studio, 33 Union Square, Somerville. www.thirdlifestudio.com, www.mandorlamusic.net
AMERICAN CLASSICS: SONGS FROM AFTER THE WAR Following their revival of Irving Berlin’s WWI musical review “Yip! Yip! Yaphank!,” Boston’s premier light music specialists, helmed by Benjamin Sears and Bradford Conner, present a selection of post-conflict songs, including “How Ya Gonna Keep ’Em Down on the Farm (After They’ve Seen Paree),” “I’ve Got My Captain Working for Me Now,” and many more. Feb. 15, 7:30 p.m. First Parish Church, 75 Great Road, Bedford; Feb. 17, 3 p.m., Pickman Concert Hall, Longy School of Music, 27 Garden St., Cambridge. $20-$25. 617-254-1125, www.amclass.org
KEVIN LOWENTHAL
Classical
MISTRAL Start Valentine’s week with Devotion, Desire, & Delirium, a program of chamber works by one of classical music’s most intriguing love triangles — Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann, and Johannes Brahms. Excerpts from their letters will be read between pieces. Feb. 10, 5 p.m. St. Paul’s Church, Brookline. 978-474-6222, www.mistralmusic.org
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BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Puissant pianist Yuja Wang joins the BSO and Andris Nelsons for Schumann’s Piano Concerto; the program concludes with Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9. Feb. 14-16. Symphony Hall. 888-266-1200, www.bso.org
ODYSSEY OPERA Odyssey’s block of operas about Helen of Troy commences with a fully staged production of Gluck’s “Paride ed Elena,” receiving its Boston premiere. The all-soprano cast includes Meghan Lindsay and Mireille Asselin in the title roles. Feb. 15 and 17. Huntington Avenue Theatre. 617-826-1626, www.odysseyopera.org
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MADONNA
ARTS
Theater
RAGTIME While watching this stirring production — directed by Nick Vargas and highlighted by Anthony Pires Jr.’s gripping portrayal of the grievously wronged and vengeful Coalhouse Walker Jr. — you are struck by how directly and acutely “Ragtime’’ speaks to our time. Even as a purely theatrical matter, “Ragtime’’ builds from strength (the career-peak score by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens) to strength (a book by Terrence McNally that deftly distills the essence of E.L. Doctorow’s novel). Through Feb. 17. Wheelock Family Theatre at Boston University. 617-353-3001, www.wheelockfamilytheatre.org
NAT TURNER IN JERUSALEM Brandon G. Green delivers an intensely focused performance as Nat Turner, leader of an 1831 slave revolt, on the eve of his execution. Benny Sato Ambush directs Nathan Alan Davis’s drama, which insists we confront our national legacy of racism — and has opened just as the state of Virginia provides still more reminders of that legacy’s persistence. Also featuring Lewis D. Wheeler. Through Feb. 24. Actors’ Shakespeare Project. At Hibernian Hall, Roxbury. 866-811-4111, www.actorsshakespeareproject.org
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SPAMILTON: AN AMERICAN PARODY As the ever-fertile mind behind the “Forbidden Broadway’’ series, the nonpareil parodist (and Needham native) Gerard Alessandrini has been lampooning Broadway musicals for nearly four decades. For his latest sendup, which he has written and directed, Alessandrini turns his attention to . . . Do I even need to say it, people? Feb. 12-April 7. Huntington Theatre Company. At Wimberly Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts. 617-266-0800, www.huntingtontheatre.org
SCHOOL OF ROCK — THE MUSICAL A musical adaptation of the 2003 Jack Black film about a would-be rock star who turns a scam — posing as a substitute teacher at a prep school — into a mission: turning the students on to the power of rock ’n’ roll. With music from the film and an original score by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Glenn Slater, and a book by none other than Julian Fellowes, of “Downton Abbey’’ fame. Feb. 12-24. Broadway In Boston. At Boston Opera House. 800-982-2787, www.broadwayinboston.com
DON AUCOIN
Dance
BILL T. JONES/ARNIE ZANE COMPANY Over three nights, and a repeat midday performance, the celebrated company presents “Analogy Trilogy.” The three-part work, created by Jones and company associate artistic director Janet Wong, was inspired by W.G. Sebald’s award-winning historical novel “The Emigrants.” Each evening melds text, movement, and music to recount a different personal story of an immigrant’s challenge. Feb. 14-17, $30-$40. Institute of Contemporary Art. 617-478-3103, www.icaboston.org
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FESTIVAL BALLET PROVIDENCE Boston Ballet alumni Viktor Plotnikov and Yury Yanowsky are two of the choreographers featured on the upcoming program “Mirrors,” which also includes the Rhode Island premiere of Balanchine’s elegant “Serenade.” Yanowsky’s futuristic “Smoke and Mirrors” was a Boston Ballet commission. Plotnikov, FBP’s resident choreographer, created his atmospheric “Coma” after being inspired by the sci-fi film of the same name. Feb. 15-17, $24-$86. Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Providence. 401-421-2787, www.thevetsri.com
GOOD GRIEF This new evening-length touring production by Everett explores the nature of trauma. The multimedia work mines personal journeys of recovery to help examine the effects of trauma and how to communicate experiences. Through Feb. 17, $25 (Sundays are pay what you can). Everett Stage, Providence. 401-831-9479, www.everettri.org
KAREN CAMPBELL
Galleries
ENIGMA: REACTIONS TO RACISM As part of Urbano Project’s curatorial series about resilience and sustainability Haitian-American artist Chanel Thervil uses mixed-media portraits, abstractions, and interviews to examine black millennials’ confusing and thorny experiences of racism in Boston. Through May 3. Urbano Project, 29 Germania St., Jamaica Plain. 617-983-1007, www.urbanoproject.org
LOOKING OUT, LOOKING IN: CONTEMPORARY ART FROM MOROCCO The notion that politics and cultural forces shape how and what we see drives the work of seven Moroccan video artists and photographers. Exploring the colonial gaze, the secrets springing from oppression, and the ways boundaries define societies, they weigh their responsibilities as citizen-artists. Through March 31. Boston University Art Galleries, 855 Commonwealth Ave. 617-353-3329, www.bu.edu/art
BODY AND SOUL Tory Fair, Audrey Goldstein, and Jill Slosberg-Ackerman — it seems as if these three Boston sculptors were always meant to have an exhibition together, and now VERY owner John Guthrie has made it happen at his salon/gallery. They each use abstraction and materiality to conjure up things that cannot be grasped. Through March 9. VERY Gallery, 59 Wareham St. 617-922-5447, www.galleryvery.com
CATE McQUAID
Museums
HOWARDENA PINDELL: WHAT REMAINS TO BE SEEN Over a 50-year career, Pindell’s work touched on nearly every major movement of the late 20th century, from abstraction to conceptualism and beyond, though a mid-career turn toward political activism infuses her work with a powerful urgency. Through May 19. Rose Art Museum, 415 South St., Waltham. 781-736-3434. www.brandeis.edu/rose
LIZ MAGOR: BLOWOUT A survey of all-new work by the celebrated Canadian sculptor, “Blowout” both elevates and interrogates the role that mundane, everyday objects — a blanket, a pair of mittens, a crumple of plastic packaging — play in our daily lives. Through March 24. Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, 24 Quincy St., Cambridge. 617-496-5387. carpenter.center
RAFA ESPARZA: STARING AT THE SUN The Los Angeles-based artist’s practice of building earthen-brick environments within the white walls of a museum says much about his priorities: of bringing the outside in, whether it be those typically excluded from such institutions, or the very ground itself. Through December 2019. Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, 1040 Mass MOCA Way, North Adams. 413-662-2111. massmoca.org
MURRAY WHYTE
EVENTS
Comedy
JUST FOR LAUGHS AUDITIONS Sunday and Monday night, some of the best up-and-coming comedians in the city will audition at Laugh Boston and the Comedy Studio for a chance to perform at Montreal’s prestigious Just for Laughs Festival in July. Feb. 10, 4:30 p.m. Free. Laugh Boston, 425 Summer St., Boston. 617-725-2844, www.laughboston.com. Feb. 11, 8 p.m. $10. The Comedy Studio, 1 Bow Market Way #23, Somerville. 617-661-6507, www.thecomedystudio.com
JOE WONG: CHINESE/AMERICAN It has been an interesting trip for Wong, who emigrated to America for school, solidified his comedy chops in the Boston scene, and then became a TV star back in China. He explores those experiences in this one-man show. Feb. 10-11, 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. $20-$25. ImprovBoston, 40 Prospect St., Cambridge. 617-576-1253, www.improvboston.com
ST. VALENTINE’S DAY LAUGHSSACRE Boston stand-up veteran Tim McIntire tops the bill at this love/hate-themed show, which also features Sara Robertson, Matt Barry, Emily Ruskowski, Daniel Gilbert, Chris Dimitrakopoulos, Alan Richardson, and Chris Machado. Feb. 14, 8 p.m. $10. Middle East Downstairs, 472 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge. 617-864-3278, www.mideastoffers.com
NICK A. ZAINO III
Family
THE RUNAWAY BUNNY Hop into a musical adaptation of Margaret Wise Brown’s classic tale of a rebellious young rabbit. The Boston Children’s Theatre production has its world premiere this weekend. Through Feb. 23. $20-$30. Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont St. bostontheatrescene.com
TUTUS FOR BATMAN Does wearing a mask mean you’re masculine? Boston-based nonprofit Wee The People is hosting a workshop about superheroes and gender expression. Programming includes storytime, activities, and interactive games. Feb. 16, 11 a.m.-noon. Free. Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston St. bpl.bibliocommons.com
LEGO® MARITIME FESTIVAL Build your own vessel using Legos at the USS Constitution Museum. Kids will have a chance to compete in a boat floating challenge and a scavenger hunt through the museum’s “Masters of Miniature” exhibit. Feb. 16-24. Free with admission. 22 Charlestown Navy Yard. ussconstitutionmuseum.org
JENNI TODD
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Feb. 18 Matt Nathanson at Paradise Rock Club songkick.com
Feb. 24 Switchfoot at House of Blues Boston songkick.com
Feb. 26 The Kooks at Orpheum Theatre ticketmaster.com
March 8 Tokyo Police Club at the Sinclair songkick.com
March 10 James Bay at Orpheum Theatre ticketmaster.com
March 11 Smallpools at Brighton Music Hall ticketmaster.com
March 17 Dropkick Murphys at House of Blues Boston houseofblues.com
March 20 Ariana Grande at TD Garden ticketmaster.com
JENNI TODD